IRAN vs JAPAN post match thread and player ratings

[Hosseini]

What makes the win so important is really the opponent. Speaking for myself, I have always been so impressed by the Japanese, not just in football (although in recent years esp. in football). Culturally, in terms of discipline, innovativeness, etc. How they managed to rebuild their country after getting 2 fkin nuclear bombs dropped on them. As far as football goes I still have no doubt they are the best team in asia. I know many other iranians who feel this way too.

For us to beat a full strength japan in the manner we did, missing our best player (and multiple other starter-level guys) is just immense on psychological level.

This is true and it's culturally a great example of what to do (discipline, respect, work ethic), but let's also be real, the reason Japan has been able to economically flourish and modernize, which is helpful for translating to athletic is success is because they are subservient to the West, similar to Korea. We have been brutally sanctioned for 40 years and even during the Shah, when he wanted to move away from Western hegemony, they sacrificed him like a lamb. This is part of the reason Japan has been able to rebrand and rebuild from being one of the most savage and brutal empires in the world. What they did to China, Indonesia, and Korea is savagery of the highest order

[Hosseini]

What we have been able to accomplish with this win is nothing short of a miracle, given IR's incompetence, isolation of Iran from the rest of the world, racist attacks in the media, political pressure and targeted campaigns from our own cowardly people. For me that's what makes this an incredible feat, that is still quite unbelievable to process. Daei said it himself, he really can't believe we were able to pull it off with all the cards stacked against us.

Winning the Asian Cup given these circumstances would make the earth shake.

[Azmoun_shireh]

We're getting off-topic but Japanese culture is all great on the outside but their lifestyle isn't that great. They're a slave to their jobs, lots of red-pilled men, small and cramped homes etc.

[webmaster]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C246c...RlODBiNWFlZA==

[inarsenewetrust]

Rewatching full game now, updated thoughts. OFC ur impression changes a bit when you arent watching totally sleep deprived at 330 am, stressed and pissed lol.

First Half:

We were actually much better than I thought initially. Even the first 20-30 mins. We totally contained japan, although we let them have possession in higher areas than we allowed in the first half (credit to GN for setting line of engagement fwd by about 10 meters in second half).

The goal we conceded was a random incident that did not match the pattern of the game. Morita's positioning to drag saeid out of the middle was smart, saeid maybe should have done a better job tracking him, Shoja in my mind is still the main culprit bc he went so far out of position with ueda and still let him turn and pass. As a cb when you vacate your zone in that manner (especially LCB going that far out to right side) you either need to win the ball or foul the guy. He did neither and then left a gap that unfortunately was not filled quickly enough by kanani. Although morita also got a huge slice of luck with how he got thru kanani's challenge.

In fact, you could argue we made more dangerous openings than Japan in the first half. On the whole it was a cagey first half with both teams feeling each other out, and TM trying to carry out the defensive instructions correctly first, which was the right tactic.

Mohebbi had a great half off the ball, couple huge plays tracking back. He also did excellently on won breakaway, that he started himself by winning the ball back, and eventually got itakura a yellow card which would affect his game a lot down the stretch. Still on 2-3 separate occasions he was caught in possession doing really stupid shit (either taking too long or not focusing enough on simple pass).

ARJ was very poor on the ball. When you rewatch it is even more obvious. But off the ball, besides tracking back, his initiation of the press was excellent + number of high intensity sprints per pressing sequence very impressive.

When we pressed them with 5 guys in the middle of the pitch (front 3+Saman+1 of Ebrahimi/Ezatolahi depending on who was closest to ball) towards latter stages of first half and forced them long we found the blueprint for winning this game (although I suspect GN may have wanted them to play like that from the start but for whatever reason they were a bit too passive, too far back in terms of line of engagement). We would force them long and then CLEANED UP all aerials/2nd balls. Major props to Shoja and Kanani for domination here.

Beiro's distribution was excellent. Both his short passing and long passing. Milad was very solid defensively, did basics going forward and that was fine. Shoja had a couple crappy long balls and the fuck up on the goal but besides that had numerous great tackles and headers.

Omid Ebrahimi was also much better in first half than I thought during my first viewing. He was slow in possession a few times but overall clean distribution, great positioning and was always harassing japanese mids. Especially of note was our gang-style pressing of kubo whenever he got the ball. Clearly staff zoomed in on him and had a plan for him, he has been a star this season in La Liga and CL with real sociedad. We would often swarm him with 3 guys, almost always one was omid.

Second Half:

Immediately we start with the higher press that was effective in last 10 mins of 1st half. In second half Saman was immense in this regard initiating many presses, Omid one line deeper also highly active (but everybody really contributed here). You can actively see GN telling omid to press up multiple times during the half. This was not a random thing that just happened. The coaching staff planned for this and adjusted to execute it as much as possible in the second half. For people that say GN is tactically clueless, you have to give him props here.

On the scene for goal again it comes from this beastly press with 5, Saman initiating, Kanani cleans up like a tank and ARJ finally beats his guy and makes an accurate fwd pass to sardar whose first touch to simultaneously control the ball arj slammed into him and set himself for the key pass was brilliant. From there timing/weight is world class for mammad. His smart run and 1 clean 1 touch finish. Please always play with as few touches as possible mammad. This was definitely one of the best TM goals ever.

Besides his goal mohebbi had a great half. As usual 2-3 really crappy touches and giveaways but then great driving runs on a few occasions, lovely bits of skill in tight spaces, won a huge number of aerials, including the one that resulted in the PK.

In 2nd half Ramin and Milad were possibly the most focussed I have seen them defensively, and both had a couple good forays forward and dangerous crosses (2x for milad, one was nearly an assist to sardar). It was ramin's great diagonal to mohebbi that resulted in the PK.

TLDR:

Make no mistake, we deserved that win. Even in the first half we were solid, but game changer was stepping up about 10-15 meters in second half and initiating and maintaining a monstrous 5 man press from then on out. Everybody contributed for this press to work, but man I did not expect omid to have legs like that still. GN got his selection absolutely spot on and his tactics/management at half time were perfect.

Now the question becomes who will he play vs Qatar. I understand why he didn't sub now bc the guys on the pitch were just doing so damn well. Vs Qatar rotation is certainly possible in a few spots...hajsafi for milad (keep milad fresh for Korea match, plus Akram afif is on the other side anyways so hajsafi should be able to deal with Ismail mohammad...you would think...) Do we need 2 DMs vs Qatar, can omid sustain that level of running vs Qatar and then Again vs SK after his tremendous effort today. I am not sure. I would consider Torabi in the midfield, saman could play a bit deeper.

We are so much better with 3 true midfielders instead of taremi at 10. Taremi should replace Mohebbi who can still give us a lot of value from the bench with his confidence recovered.

[KasraKhan]

^ So glad you saw the light on Omid. After reading your initial analysis, I paid close attention to Omid on my rewatch and still thought he had a good first half (barring a few giveaways). Second half was solid too.

At the age of 36, the shift this guy put in was so immense. He is like our version of Endo. After his 2018 WC performance, performance yesterday, and the possible contribution he can still provide this AC, he really has cemented himself as a TM legend in my eyes. I love everything about him and his game.

[arj42]

Not sure if this was posted yet
highlights from mohebbi and GN post past conference
GN gets standing ovation from media crew
GN says he sat next to Japan coach at event and likes his shakhsiat a lot
https://youtu.be/5ES1EoRgTCU?si=q3ZOZdT08PPTbDc6

[arj42]

View of final whistle from bench
​https://video.varzesh3.com/video/323...„عه-نویی

[Doctor DOOM]

This game must be renamed as "Redemption Game".

Redemption for TM who lost to the same Japan, in the last edition, over some really unprofessional behavior of our lads.

Redemption for Mohebbi who was like a headless chicken in the previous game (not that he was that different in this game. But at least he had a great goal)

Redemption for Kanani for screwing up in Japan's goal. Although one might wonder just what the hell he was doing in the opponents' 18 when he got the penalty.

Some may also include JB here (although I dont believe he's been weak. Not any more than anyone else in the team anyway)


Also this win provides Taremi a chance for redemption for his idiotic diving habit that eventually earned him the red card suspension.


Now all that stands between us and the finals are our traditional opponents and people who've beaten us on great many occasions, some mercilessly.
An opponent so difficult that we'd need bundles of luck to defeat them.
An opponent that has usually been very resolute in our countless meetings.
An opponent to beat whom, we must dig deep into our pool of physical abilities & mental capabilities to overcome.
An opponent whose stats against us is stacked in its favor, by a mile.
The referees and AFC.

oh, and Qatar also may provide some difficulty for TM too in the match.

​

[webmaster]

^ and a redemption for GN to pass the semi finals and perhaps take revenge from S. Korea.

[IRAN_TILL_I_DIE]

I think Taremi being suspended was a blessing in disguise.

wirh him being out, Ghoddos was then moved into number 10, which is his natural and best position. He can use his creative skills to influence our attacking game which we saw glimpses of.

Omid was then brought in the middle alongside ezatolahi. His tenacious attitude, breaking up japans play was invaluable, something ghoddos can’t do.

If taremi was available, we would have had ezatolahi and ghoddos, with taremi in the 10. I think the Japanese would have dominated that midfield and result may have been different.

against Qatar , a team that we are far superior to, ezatolahi and ghoddos will work, but should we win and meet Korea in the final…

The best solution may be to have Omid and ezatolahi and move ghoddos to the left wing..

[Nokhodi]

Everyone has said what I want to say.
My only 2 points:

1 - Our first half was good too, we just didn't have the conviction to attack more relentlessly.
2 - After the penalty JB scored, GN went to the cooler to get a drink. There was no drink. Someone get the man a drink

[Nokhodi]

Rewatching full game now, updated thoughts. OFC ur impression changes a bit when you arent watching totally sleep deprived at 330 am, stressed and pissed lol.

First Half:

We were actually much better than I thought initially. Even the first 20-30 mins. We totally contained japan, although we let them have possession in higher areas than we allowed in the first half (credit to GN for setting line of engagement fwd by about 10 meters in second half).

The goal we conceded was a random incident that did not match the pattern of the game. Morita's positioning to drag saeid out of the middle was smart, saeid maybe should have done a better job tracking him, Shoja in my mind is still the main culprit bc he went so far out of position with ueda and still let him turn and pass. As a cb when you vacate your zone in that manner (especially LCB going that far out to right side) you either need to win the ball or foul the guy. He did neither and then left a gap that unfortunately was not filled quickly enough by kanani. Although morita also got a huge slice of luck with how he got thru kanani's challenge.

In fact, you could argue we made more dangerous openings than Japan in the first half. On the whole it was a cagey first half with both teams feeling each other out, and TM trying to carry out the defensive instructions correctly first, which was the right tactic.

Mohebbi had a great half off the ball, couple huge plays tracking back. He also did excellently on won breakaway, that he started himself by winning the ball back, and eventually got itakura a yellow card which would affect his game a lot down the stretch. Still on 2-3 separate occasions he was caught in possession doing really stupid shit (either taking too long or not focusing enough on simple pass).

ARJ was very poor on the ball. When you rewatch it is even more obvious. But off the ball, besides tracking back, his initiation of the press was excellent + number of high intensity sprints per pressing sequence very impressive.

When we pressed them with 5 guys in the middle of the pitch (front 3+Saman+1 of Ebrahimi/Ezatolahi depending on who was closest to ball) towards latter stages of first half and forced them long we found the blueprint for winning this game (although I suspect GN may have wanted them to play like that from the start but for whatever reason they were a bit too passive, too far back in terms of line of engagement). We would force them long and then CLEANED UP all aerials/2nd balls. Major props to Shoja and Kanani for domination here.

Beiro's distribution was excellent. Both his short passing and long passing. Milad was very solid defensively, did basics going forward and that was fine. Shoja had a couple crappy long balls and the fuck up on the goal but besides that had numerous great tackles and headers.

Omid Ebrahimi was also much better in first half than I thought during my first viewing. He was slow in possession a few times but overall clean distribution, great positioning and was always harassing japanese mids. Especially of note was our gang-style pressing of kubo whenever he got the ball. Clearly staff zoomed in on him and had a plan for him, he has been a star this season in La Liga and CL with real sociedad. We would often swarm him with 3 guys, almost always one was omid.

Second Half:

Immediately we start with the higher press that was effective in last 10 mins of 1st half. In second half Saman was immense in this regard initiating many presses, Omid one line deeper also highly active (but everybody really contributed here). You can actively see GN telling omid to press up multiple times during the half. This was not a random thing that just happened. The coaching staff planned for this and adjusted to execute it as much as possible in the second half. For people that say GN is tactically clueless, you have to give him props here.

On the scene for goal again it comes from this beastly press with 5, Saman initiating, Kanani cleans up like a tank and ARJ finally beats his guy and makes an accurate fwd pass to sardar whose first touch to simultaneously control the ball arj slammed into him and set himself for the key pass was brilliant. From there timing/weight is world class for mammad. His smart run and 1 clean 1 touch finish. Please always play with as few touches as possible mammad. This was definitely one of the best TM goals ever.

Besides his goal mohebbi had a great half. As usual 2-3 really crappy touches and giveaways but then great driving runs on a few occasions, lovely bits of skill in tight spaces, won a huge number of aerials, including the one that resulted in the PK.

In 2nd half Ramin and Milad were possibly the most focussed I have seen them defensively, and both had a couple good forays forward and dangerous crosses (2x for milad, one was nearly an assist to sardar). It was ramin's great diagonal to mohebbi that resulted in the PK.

TLDR:

Make no mistake, we deserved that win. Even in the first half we were solid, but game changer was stepping up about 10-15 meters in second half and initiating and maintaining a monstrous 5 man press from then on out. Everybody contributed for this press to work, but man I did not expect omid to have legs like that still. GN got his selection absolutely spot on and his tactics/management at half time were perfect.

Now the question becomes who will he play vs Qatar. I understand why he didn't sub now bc the guys on the pitch were just doing so damn well. Vs Qatar rotation is certainly possible in a few spots...hajsafi for milad (keep milad fresh for Korea match, plus Akram afif is on the other side anyways so hajsafi should be able to deal with Ismail mohammad...you would think...) Do we need 2 DMs vs Qatar, can omid sustain that level of running vs Qatar and then Again vs SK after his tremendous effort today. I am not sure. I would consider Torabi in the midfield, saman could play a bit deeper.

We are so much better with 3 true midfielders instead of taremi at 10. Taremi should replace Mohebbi who can still give us a lot of value from the bench with his confidence recovered.

I agree with everything you said except for blaming Shoja for the Japan goal.
Shoja was holding off the guy who made the pass to Morita. Omid and Saeed just let Morita continue his run. Kanaani was also flat footed. Morita got a lucky bounce but he went through Saeed, Omid, and Kanaani like a hot knife through warm butter.

Shoja amongst those 4 was the least responsible for the goal.

There were a few other communication/coverage issues at moments, but I don't want to crap on TM's mostly great performance.

[AhuraMazda1]

Guys, some funny and interesting moments I saw from the rewatch:

1) One of our "leader" fans was having a tantrum over a drum with another leader and eventually yanked it away from him
2) There was a set piece and Shoja was being pushed by a Japanese defender every now and again. Shoja then anticipates it and grabs the guys wrist before he had a chance to do it again and then looked and smiled at him like "ahaaaa, didi mocheto gereftam". The Japanese defender looked traumatised

[Nokhodi]

Apparently when JB scored his bicycle kick goal versus Chelsea, and the penalty versus Japan, his mother was in the stadium. Someone please make sure his family is in the stadium for the next 2 (hopefully) games.